Gov Jerry Brown

Jul 12 2012

Document signed by Gov. Brown

The California Homeowner Bill of Rights, sponsored by Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, was signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.

Jan 12 2012

Joins with Empowerment Congress Summit to address disparity in distribution state funds

Special Needs Network Inc. (SNN) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to respond to the crisis of autism and other developmental disabilities in underserved communities by providing educational forums, resources, and specialized learning opportunities for parents and caregivers of special needs children, intervention programs, and advocacy training. Founded in 2005, SNN grew out of the efforts of two mothers whose sons were diagnosed with autism.

Dec 29 2011

Continued cuts strain state’s social services safety net

California’s long-running budget crisis has seen the legislature take larger and larger chunks out of the state social services safety net, at a time when more people are looking for the resources.

Among recent cuts that have been made are $510 million to the state’s welfare program, CalWORKS.

Gov. Jerry Brown had proposed eliminating the program, but the legislature instead reduced financing to counties, adjusted caseloads and steered resources first toward employment services and child care for recipients who are working.

Dec 29 2011

Some protest law

Gov. Jerry Brown approved SB 48, otherwise known as the California Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act.

Originally proposed by Mark Leno of San Francisco, an openly gay Democratic senator, the new law that passed on July 14 this year amends “the Education Code to include social sciences instruction on the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.”

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Dec 15 2011

Practical Politics

The vast majority of African American college-going students in this state go to California’s Community Colleges—still one of the truly great bargains in America. That being said, there are plenty of current problems in the process.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.